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In 1990, my brother gave me my first Turntables :) With lots of practice & tolerance from my parents, came my first DJ gigs. Me & a crew of friends made lots of noise. We organized warehouse/ garage parties every month. I played Hip Hop with a mix of my Dad's old Soul, Funk records plus the House Music my sister picked up from Downtown Records in the city. Tito Roc came out from Uptown every month & rocked new & old House music and Hip Hop. Bucky & Jeff spun the best... Read more
In 1990, my brother gave me my first Turntables :) With lots of practice & tolerance from my parents, came my first DJ gigs. Me & a crew of friends made lots of noise. We organized warehouse/ garage parties every month. I played Hip Hop with a mix of my Dad's old Soul, Funk records plus the House Music my sister picked up from Downtown Records in the city. Tito Roc came out from Uptown every month & rocked new & old House music and Hip Hop. Bucky & Jeff spun the best Dancehall and Reggae at the time. Russ Starke would occasionally jam along on guitar or with his band called Silas Lang. This was the crew- It all started very locally.
Soon to follow, a club called Caffeine opened up which brought together 1,000's of kids from all over the Island. DJ's Tom La Roc, Nick Pepe, DNA, Jim Felli, Micro, Onionz, Derek Sessions, Omar, Samir and many more were representing to the fullest out there! I'm proud to say that I came out of that same movement of music lovers who were always trying to make something happen in the burbs.
In '93 I moved to the Lower East Side. I heard about this party called Giant Step that incorporated DJ's spinning Hip Hop, Funk & Jazz with live Musicians. Since I was too young to get in, I went to one of the daytime outdoor festivals & handed my mix tape to this a guy named Marc Labelle. Thanks to him, Jonathan Rudnick & Maurice Bernstein, Giant Step turned into a regular gig that gave me a real chance to test and explore new & old music to an amazing group of party people. Respect to DJ's Smash, Jazzy Nice, Swingsett, Chillfreeze, Urban Tap, Nappy G & all the Groove Collective musicians for making it all happen.
Shortly after, I started spinning records with the Organic Grooves crew in the basement of Bar XVI. It was a great place where we explored more of the World, funk, electronic & dub sounds out there. Again, I found myself jamming with musicians, creating a thick dubby percussive sound that lived up to it's name. DJ Sasha dug up some really rare grooves while Zeb (guitar/ effects), Mariano (congas) & Mike T (bongos) kept the dancefloor alive. Respect to Alex Gloor for his guidance in keeping it Cosmic!
At the same time, a friend named Jon Lin & I were busy creating underground events at the Antique Cafe, The Frying Pan & any parking garage or loft that we could use for a night. We were incorporating various styles of music into one night in very unconventional spaces. In a night, you may have heard dj DB or Dara spinning Drum & Bass, Johnny Sender spinning Funk & Rare Grooves, Derek Sessions spinning deep soulful House, Tomas (Mammal) spinning all of the above;) Respect to Carol C (spinning Drum & Bass), Tessa & Karla, three of the best promoters that helped make those events happen.
In the Fall of 1998, Mariano found a very unique space, separate from all NYC inhabitants. The space was simply a concrete deck on the edge of a Pier, behind an indoor Ice Skating rink. We convinced the Chelsae Piers to let us throw parties on the Deck. We decided to finally have a space & a party that we called our own. We asked old school Giant Step alumni, Nappy G to join us on percussion & we started NYC's first outdoor party on the Hudson! www.turntablesonthehudson.com The sound was everything we loved from Hip Hop to Funk, House to Latin, Big Beat to Reggae. Basically, we wanted to be free of the boundaries that confined most dj events to one style of music. From the party came our first compilation in 1999 on our newly created record label called Rhythm Love Records.
PRODUCTION:
Simultaneous to all of the above, I was dabbling with a sampler & an 8 track. Thanks to Eddy Plenty (aka Disco Dynamite) I met a fellow music lover who was interested in collaborating in making beats. His name is Jay B aka Pleaser aka Truth Mechanic. Looking back, Jay was doing crazy computer edits & sound creations that people are learning today. In my eyes, even as the Truth Mechanic, he's still the beat fanatic! 2 of my favorite tracks were "Samsara" which is 12 minute cyclical track that follows a story from an Indian Raga birth to a Funky African Groove departure & back to recreation in a Lou Rawls poem. The other track was the "Shot in Dark With Gunn" Henri Mancini Remix. We watched tons of Pink Panther movies for that one!
Soon after, I hooked up with long time friend & MPC beatsmith Chris Annibell (aka Osiris). For our first project, Jay Douglas & I took a long journey in my 88 Chevy Caprice to Cincinnatti, Ohio (where Chris was currently in school) to dig up 100's of old records in an antique shop. Then we proceeded to sample & freak the sounds we've collected in the MPC until we came up with the track, "7 Seas." Soon after, Chris moved back to NYC & we began a solid 4 years of writing & remixing tracks for dancefloors everywhere! My favorite to date is the track "Brooklyn Ole." Please go to the discography page to check the resume.
The Mino Show: What would be a biography without mention of the craziest capiiitan Mino Cinelu! From around 1999 to 2001 I toured with the late great percussionist/ songwriter & his band consisting of: Mino (on too much percussion for the normal percussionist) and vocals, Mitch Stein on guitar, Leo travessa on Bass, LPB on the sound. I played the beats through an 8 track & an MPC & used two Turntables for scratching & delayed effects. This experience gave me a great understanding of live shows which included tight organized sets along with full on jam sessions with the best musicians. Seeing & experiencing all of France & parts of Senegal with this crew was truely amazing!
Other music collaborations with Carol C, Zeb, Andrea Montiero, Jay Rodriguez & Ticklah can be heard through the Discography page & the soon to come, 1st solo album, "Endangered Species" September 13th, 2005! Show less
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